Why does Samba Server only work with default "homes" directory?
 

Hi All

I have been trying to set up a samba server. I have got the server to work fine with the default homes directory, but I'd like to be able to select just one folder to share, videos for example. However, whenever I remove the [homes] directory from the configuration file I get the message

Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.4.7]
tree connect failed: NT_STATUS_BAD_NETWORK_NAME

I am using the command

smbclient //<hostname>/<sharename> -U <username>

My .conf file is as follows

[global]

workgroup = WORKGROUP
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)l
wins support = no
dns proxy = no
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d

security = user
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

encrypt passwords = true
passdb backend = tdbsam
obey pam restrictions = no
unix password sync = no
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .

pam password change = no

map to guest = bad user


[Videos]
comment = Videos
path = /home/chris/Videos
read only = No
guest ok = Yes
public = Yes
browseable = Yes
create mask = 0666
directory mask = 0777

[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777

valid users = chris

I have filled this in as best I can from searching through the forums, but it seems that other people seem to be able to remove the [homes] directory without a problem.

Am I being a complete idiot or is there something else wrong?

Any help would be really appreciated.

@ Reply
 

Hi chrisgreg,

Welcome to LQ!!!

Few questions for you:

1. Does this work when you have [homes] enabled. Are you able to get into videos directory?
2. Permissions set on /home/chris/Videos
3. don't know but does not appears right to me. This one should be commented out I guess.
4. With which user account you are trying to access [Videos] share when [homes] is removed?

Thanks for your response
 

Hi, thank you for your response

When I have homes enabled I can view everything from local machine through terminal, and I can access everything from a windows 7 laptop and an Ubuntu laptop. I have mounted an external usb HDD into the homes directory which I can also access. The problem is as soon as I disable [homes] I then cant connect to smb, not even from local machine. On local terminal I get this

Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.4.7]
tree connect failed: NT_STATUS_BAD_NETWORK_NAME

I can remove the map to guest = bad user bit, that was just there when I installed the package.

I am using the same user for everything to keep it simple.

It's not just the videos share, it is anything that isn't [homes], I have tried various different shares. I even tried just creating one with the path /home/chris and that didn't work either. As soon as I comment out [homes] it wont connect

The permissions are
owner (me) - create and delete folder
group - access folders
others - access folders

@ Reply
 

Just now noticed that your share path for [Videos] is: path = /home/chris/Videos

It appears to me that as soon as you disable [homes] it prevent any thing to be seen under /home.

Is it possible for you to copy: /home/chris/Videos to / and set the same permissions as you have set up now.

Edit [Videos] section to reflect the new path.

Restart smb and nmb services and then give it a try.

Why does Samba Server only work with default "homes" directory?
 

Hi

I followed your advice, created /Videos and used this as the path for [Videos], as soon as I disable [homes] it won't connect regardless of the new path. Have I missed something obvious? Also when I have [Videos] and [homes] enabled it won't show anything other than the contents of [home]. I tested this by creating another diretory /sambatestshare and created [sambatestshare] in smb. I couldn't see this dir either

@ Reply
 

Ok. Make a copy of your existing smb.conf file and then edit it as mentioned in this tutorial and see if that works:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=202605

Hi

I have followed this guide and have used the configuration file, but still the same thing happens. If I specify a file path other than [homes] I get the message NT_STATUS_BAD_NETWORK_NAME. This is very frustrating, is it possible to view the log files for Samba?

@ Reply
 

Alright. I have tested the following config on my Ubuntu 11.04 and it is working fine. I am able to browse to the folder and am able to create files and folders:

Things that I checked are:

1. My firewall setting that is whether it is allowing connection for samba or not.
2. User account is added to smbusers. Did it via smbpasswd -a
3. Services are running both smbd and nmbd.

As you can see I do not have [homes] configured but still it works for me on my Ubuntu system.

brilliant that seems to work fine, I've set up my own directories etc and it all seems to work. Thanks very much for you help, I still don't understand what I was doing wrong but never mind.

Thanks Again

@ Reply
 

You're welcome.

Please mark the thread as solved. It might be possible that there is something which we overlooked in your config file.

Enjoy linux!!!